Ed Balls, the children's secretary, and Yvette Cooper, the chief secretary to the Treasury, have launched an attack on the so-called London living wage – the £7.45 an hour recommended minimum for all workers in the capital. They claim it would be "artificial, inflationary" and not "necessary or appropriate." Tories and trade unions, who are backing higher minimum wages, reacted an...

From the Daily Express:Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, will cut a special cake in the Commons to celebrate the anniversary of the minimum wage. Mr Prentis said: "The minimum wage is an historic achievement for Unison and its 10th anniversary is cause for huge celebration.Congratulations. It’s also the first time the minimum wage will be put to the test of a fully blown

I think they could be more of a Labour party, but I think overall we have been a LABOUR government, yes. Minimum wage, the largest ever redistribution of wealth under any government, SureStart, EMA's, a Minimum wage, easier conditions for trade union recognition, Social Chapter, child trust funds, equal rights for agency workers, a Minimum wage, devolution, near total abolition of hereditarie...

Mr Gradgrind has repented. Ed Balls, the children's secretary, whose department issued a statement branding the £7.45 London living wage "inflationary, artificial and unnecessary", has blamed his officials for putting out the damning words without his permission. In an extraordinary U-turn, Balls now says that not only does he agree with a London living wage but he is going to make sure...

Check out this website which is supported by UNISON, the TUC and NGO’s. On the 1st April the National Minimum Wage will be 10 years old. You can lobby the Low Pay unit and your local MP about this year's increase. Well done the Labour Party and Government for this is one of your finest...

This stinks… Ed Balls, the children’s secretary, and Yvette Cooper, the chief secretary to the Treasury, have launched an attack on the so-called London living wage – the £7.45 an hour recommended minimum for all workers in the capital. They claim it would be “artificial, inflationary” and not “necessary or appropriate.” As a couple the woeful Balls

Vale of Clwyd AM, Ann Jones has tabled a Statement of Opinion at the Assembly marking the 10th Anniversary of the National Minimum Wage. Labour’s groundbreaking introduction of the minimum wage has been a major step in overcoming poverty and ending the tyranny of low pay. When the National Minimum Wage came into being, wages of as little as £1.20 an hour were common and legal – t...

On 1 April we celebrated 10 years of the national minimum wage. Now we wait to hear the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission and the government's decision on the level of the minimum wage. This law was a major victory for the labour movement and anti-poverty campaigners, but much more importantly it meant that for the very first time the lowest-paid were entitled to legally guaranteed mi...

I have not yet had a chance to repair the broken links in recent posts but I could not resist this title for a blog post. UNISON has condemned Ed Balls, Children’s Minister for his attack on the London Living Wage. Since Tory Mayor Johnson has been forced to continue to support the London Living...

Ed Balls tells The Times today that: “The moment you stop wanting to do the job you are doing and start thinking about the future or next stage is the point when you start to lose a grip with reality.” Now, Balls is saying this as part of his attempt to deny that he wanted to be made Chancellor in the reshuffle. But it does make one think what Balls thought of Gordon Brown’s ment...